Functional Specialties
Archives Branch
Operational records, personal papers and donated collections, and other materials related to naval operations, policy, and strategy, including ships’ deck logs dating back thirty years and annual command operations reports of active U.S. Navy ships, aviation units, and shore commands.
Conservation Branch
Actively preserves NHHC cultural property through preventative conservation, examination, documentation, scientific analysis, and treatment; develops guidelines for care of artifacts; recommends environmental conditions for storage and exhibit; and provides advice for handling and packing.
Curator Branch
Ensures the proper care and preservation of the Navy’s historical artifacts, such as ships’ bells and equipment, arms and ordnance, uniforms and personal equipment, and plaques, and makes these artifacts available to the Navy and to the public.
Histories Branch
Researches and writes naval history from the American Revolution to the present; conducts oral histories; maintains and updates the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), which provides histories of individual Navy ships, 1775 to the present.
Navy Art Collection
Paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture depicting the history of the Navy and the activities of men and women in naval service. Prepares and displays exhibits of Navy artwork, and administers the Navy combat art program.
Navy Department Library
Extensive collections include materials such as books, manuscripts, and other textual sources that enrich the understanding of naval and maritime history, customs, and traditions.
Navy Museums
Nine official Navy museums educate a national audience about the history, customs, and traditions of the U.S. Navy through curriculum-based education programs, docent-led tours, and special programs that are open to the public and free of charge.
NHHC Detachment Boston
Plans and performs all maintenance, repair, and restoration of USS Constitution as close to its 1812 configuration as possible.
Navy Combat Documentation Unit
Reserve unit personnel provide a vital link between the NHHC and the fleet. Since 1991, Reserve historians have deployed to U.S. Navy, joint, and combatant commands worldwide to conduct oral history interviews, collect historically significant artifacts and documents, and produce combat art.
Photographic Collection
Extensive pictorial reference files on all aspects of naval history, which are the principal source of photographs and other illustrations of U.S. Navy subjects made prior to 1920, and contain a wide selection of unique photography from later years.
Public Engagement
Provides the central point of contact for public requests for information or support, including but not limited to Sailor, veteran, researcher, educator, and media inquiries; coordination and support for commemorative events; and headquarters and museums' activities, services and products.
Underwater Archaeology
Advises on underwater archaeology issues; conducts and oversees research on the Navy's historic ship and aircraft wreck sites; establishes policy and ensures compliance with regulations and laws pertaining to the protection of wreck sites.
